Stone is out of her depth, she puts in a commendable effort but the script is too flawed and the character too nuanced for her to really get her hands around it and make something compelling from it. She has a couple pitch perfect scenes but in total the performance, and therefore the film, fall flat. The humor, social commentary, and emotions rarely work consistently or in concert. And its not all her fault, much should be laid at the feet of writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos, yet you cannot help thinking of more dimensional actors who could have made something better, clearer, with the role(Alia Shawkat, Lashana Lynch, Rachel McAdams to name a few). The dudes in the cast are all pretty good, particularly Ramy Youssef who its great to see in this kind of movie, but that's the problem, for a movie explicitly about women and feminism there's too many dudes and the focus is on them and how they view and relate to Bella not on Bella herself.
The film looks great and has Lanthimos's signature visual panache as well as an effective, subtle, melodic almost droning score not to mention absolutely immaculate costuming. But the script is so flawed, the protracted gratuitous sex scenes so thematically counterintuitive, the messaging so inaccurate the result feels like a 90's feminist tutorial for middle schoolers made by men who have no real understanding of their subject.
For a film ostensibly about women's empowerment and autonomy what we actually see is exploitation, subjugation, and a profound misunderstanding of gender dynamics. Rote situations used to demonstrate dated and obvious ideas attempting to critique the male gaze but inadvertently utilizing it.
Beautiful looking and commendably ambitious but ultimately ineffective and bludgeoning. Regressive.
Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.
Don't See It.
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